3DS sets new sales record for Nintendo over first weekend

The Nintendo 3DS was launched in Europe just over a week ago, and recently released sales figures have shown the 3DS has set new sales records for Nintendo. This is despite the console not reaching the figures that were first expected.

According to an article by Joe Minihane from T3.com, Nintendo have revealed they sold 303,000 of the new 3DS across Europe in the first 48 hours. In the UK 113,000 were sold which is over a third of the Europe total. Before the console was released Nintendo had said 140,000 units were pre-ordered in the UK, so the figure was not as high as expected.

The 3DS did become the fastest Nintendo handheld of all time as the DSi only managed 92,000 during the same period, with the DS hitting 87,000. The company’s goal of selling four million units by the end of March seems very unlikely now. 800,000 have been sold in Japan, and we await news of the United States, but the overall figure looks to be falling short.

There have been early problems reported by owners of the 3DS with the console reportedly crashing and freezing. The lineup of launch games have also been criticized, which may have put off some perspective buyers of the 3DS.

Meanwhile an article by Jen Schiller over at 3DSBuzz is reporting Sony’s soon to be replaced PSP, is selling almost as well as the new 3DS in Japan. This week the PSP sold 50,479 compared to the 3DS 50,710.